Bill Text: CA SB822 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Senate Bill 822

Bill Title: Workforce development: Interagency High Road Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-25 - Veto sustained. [SB822 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB822-Enrolled.html

Enrolled September 19, 2023

Passed IN Senate September 14, 2023

Passed IN Assembly September 14, 2023

Amended IN Assembly September 08, 2023

Amended IN Assembly September 01, 2023

Amended IN Senate May 18, 2023

Amended IN Senate April 26, 2023

Amended IN Senate April 18, 2023

Amended IN Senate March 21, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 822

Introduced by Senator Durazo
(Coauthors: Senators Atkins, Cortese, Laird, and Newman)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Schiavo)

February 17, 2023

An act to add Article 11 (commencing with Section 10440) to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of, and to repeal Section 10442 of, the Public Contract Code, and to amend Section 14013 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 822, Durazo. Workforce development: Interagency High Road Act.

Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law requires the board to assist the Governor in promoting the development of a well-educated and highly skilled 21st century workforce, and the development of a high road economy that offers an educated and skilled workforce with fair compensation and treatment in the workplace. Existing law also requires the board to assist in developing standards, procedures, and criteria for high road employers, high road jobs, high road workforce development, and high road training partners, as specified. Existing law defines “high road” for these purposes to mean a set of economic and workforce development strategies to achieve economic growth, economic equity, shared prosperity, and a clean environment.

This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations and the California Workforce Development Board, within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to collectively be responsible for among other duties, creating high road evaluation metrics, consulting with stakeholders, and providing for meaningful public input on the development and evaluation of high road evaluation metrics. The bill would require the board to also assist in developing standards, procedures, and criteria for high road contracting and high road procurement, as specified. The bill would require, upon request by a state agency, the board to establish memorandums of understanding to incorporate high road evaluation metrics in the state agency’s procurement processes, contracts, and incentive programs. The bill would make these provisions effective only until January 1, 2030, and repeal them as of that date.

This bill would also require specified state agencies, by January 1, 2025, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the California Workforce Development Board to incorporate high road evaluation metrics in the state agency’s procurement processes, contracts, and incentive programs. The bill would require these agreements to draw upon the experience of the California Workforce Development Board to ensure the state has the workforce and industry-based training partnerships necessary to meet its broadband, clean energy, and clean transportation goals, as specified. The bill would require these agreements to include advice and recommendations to ensure state agency policies and regulated programs create or support high-quality jobs in the broadband, energy, resources, and transportation sectors and expand access to those jobs for priority populations through high-quality education and training.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Article 11 (commencing with Section 10440) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, to read:

Article 11. Interagency High Road Act

10440.

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Interagency High Road Act.

10441.

For the purposes of this article, both of the following definitions apply:

(a) “High road” means the same as defined in subdivision (r) of Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.

(b) “State” or “state agency” means any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other agency of the state.

10442.

(a) The Department of Industrial Relations and the California Workforce Development Board, within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, shall collectively be responsible for all of the following:

(1) Creating high road evaluation metrics, including, but not limited to, a set of principles, procedures, scoring rubrics, and contract application metrics pertaining to contractor applicant employment practices, including, but not limited to, those practices related to a contractor’s employee wages, benefits, and working conditions, and the contractor’s record of compliance with labor laws.

(2) Consulting with stakeholders and providing for meaningful public input on the development and evaluation of high road evaluation metrics.

(3) Tracking and reporting memorandums of understanding established or entered into pursuant to subdivision (b) or Section 10443.

(b) Upon request by a state agency, the California Workforce Development Board shall establish memorandums of understanding to incorporate high road evaluation metrics in the state agency’s procurement processes, contracts, and incentive programs described in Section 10443.

10443.

(a) By January 1, 2025, the Department of Transportation, the Public Utilities Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Department of Technology, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery shall each enter into a memorandum of understanding with the California Workforce Development Board to incorporate high road evaluation metrics in the state agency’s procurement processes, contracts, and incentive programs.

(b) In developing the agreements pursuant to subdivision (a), the state agency shall draw upon the expertise of the California Workforce Development Board to ensure the state has the workforce and industry-based training partnerships necessary to meet its broadband, clean energy, and clean transportation goals, while building pathways into the middle class and beyond for Californians who have been historically excluded from opportunity or shouldered a disproportionate share of climate and environmental costs.

(c) These agreements shall include advice and recommendations to ensure state agency policies and regulated programs create or support high-quality jobs in the broadband, energy, resources, and transportation sectors and expand access to those jobs for priority populations through high-quality education and training.

SEC. 2.

Section 14013 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:

14013.

The board shall assist the Governor in the following:

(a) Promoting the development of a well-educated and highly skilled 21st century workforce, and the development of a high road economy that offers an educated and skilled workforce with fair compensation and treatment in the workplace.

(b) Developing, implementing, and modifying the State Plan. The State Plan shall serve as the comprehensive framework and coordinated plan for the aligned investment of all federal and state workforce training and employment services funding streams and programs. To the extent feasible and when appropriate, the State Plan should reinforce and work with adult education and career technical education efforts that are responsive to labor market trends, as well as economic trends that impact the labor market and workforce, including, but not limited to, climate change, automation of work, and employment.

(c) The review and technical assistance of statewide policies, of statewide programs, and of recommendations on actions that should be taken by the state to align workforce, education, training, and employment funding programs in the state in a manner that supports a comprehensive, high-quality, and streamlined workforce development system in the state, including the review and provision of comments on the State Plan, if any, for programs and activities of one-stop partners that are not core programs.

(d) Developing and continuously improving the statewide workforce investment system, including:

(1) The identification of barriers and means for removing barriers to better coordinate, align, and avoid duplication among the programs and activities carried out through the system.

(2) The development, promotion, and implementation of strategies, as well as the administration of, and field assistance for, programs to advance the use of career pathways for the purpose of providing individuals, including low-skilled adults, youth, and individuals with barriers to employment, and including individuals with disabilities, with workforce investment activities, education, and supportive services to enter or retain high-quality employment. To the extent permissible under state and federal laws, these policies and strategies should support linkages between kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and community college educational systems in order to help secure educational and career advancement. These policies and strategies may be implemented using a sector strategies framework and should ultimately lead to placement in a job providing economic security or job placement in an entry-level job that has a well-articulated career pathway or career ladder to a job providing economic security.

(3) The development, promotion, and implementation of strategies for providing effective outreach to and improved access for individuals and employers who could benefit from services provided through the workforce development system.

(4) The development, promotion, and implementation of strategies, as well as the administration of, and field assistance for, programs that meet the needs of employers, workers, and jobseekers, particularly through industry or sector partnerships related to in-demand industry sectors and occupations, including policies targeting resources to competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters that provide economic security and are either high-growth sectors or critical to California’s economy, or both. These industry sectors and clusters shall have significant economic impacts on the state and its regional and workforce development needs, including, but not limited to, California’s transition to a carbon neutral economy, and have documented career opportunities.

(5) Consistent with the definitions in Section 14005, developing standards, procedures, and criteria for defining high road employers, high road jobs, high road contracting, high road procurement, high road workforce development, and high road training partnerships in California, in accordance with lessons learned from the board’s ongoing high road workforce development initiatives.

(6) The administration, promotion, and expansions of, as well as field assistance for, high road training partnerships, as defined in Section 14005.

(7) The administration, promotion, and expansion of, as well as field assistance for, high road construction careers, as defined in Section 14005.

(8) Recommending adult and dislocated worker training policies and investments that offer a variety of career opportunities while upgrading the skills of California’s workforce. These may include training policies and investments pertaining to any of the following:

(A) Occupational skills training, including training for nontraditional employment.

(B) On-the-job training.

(D) Programs that combine workplace training with related instruction, which may include cooperative education programs.

(E) Training programs operated by the private sector.

(F) Skill upgrading and retraining.

(G) Entrepreneurial training.

(H) Transitional jobs in accordance with Section 3174(d)(5) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(I) Job readiness training provided in combination with any of the services described in subparagraphs (A) to (H), inclusive.

(J) Adult education and literacy activities provided in combination with any of the services described in subparagraphs (A) to (G), inclusive.

(K) Customized training conducted with a commitment by an employer or group of employers to employ an individual upon successful completion of the training.

(e) The identification of regions, including planning regions, for the purposes of Section 3121(a) of Title 29 of the United States Code, and the designation of local areas under Section 3121 of Title 29 of the United States Code, after consultation with local boards and chief elected officials.

(f) The development and continuous improvement of the one-stop delivery system in local areas, including providing assistance to local boards, one-stop operators, one-stop partners, and providers with planning and delivering services, including training services and supportive services, to support effective delivery of services to workers, job seekers, and employers.

(g) Recommending strategies to the Governor for strategic training investments of the Governor’s 15-percent discretionary funds.

(h) Developing strategies to support staff training and awareness across programs supported under the workforce development system.

(i) The development and updating of comprehensive state performance accountability measures, including state-adjusted levels of performance, to assess the effectiveness of the core programs in the state as required under Section 3141(b) of Title 29 of the United States Code. As part of this process the board shall do all of the following:

(1) Develop a workforce metrics dashboard, to be updated annually, that measures the state’s human capital investments in workforce development to better understand the collective impact of these investments on the labor market. The board shall determine the approach for measuring labor market impacts, provided that, to the extent feasible, the board uses statistically rigorous methodologies to estimate, assess, and isolate the impact of programs on participant outcomes. The workforce metrics dashboard shall be produced, to the extent feasible, using existing available data and resources that are currently collected and accessible to state agencies. The board shall convene workforce program partners to develop a standardized set of inputs and outputs for the workforce metrics dashboard. The workforce metrics dashboard shall do all of the following:

(A) Provide a status report on credential attainment, training completion, degree attainment, and participant earnings from workforce education and training programs. The board shall publish and distribute the final report.

(B) Provide demographic breakdowns, including, to the extent possible, race, ethnicity, age, gender, veteran status, wage and credential or degree outcomes, and information on workforce outcomes in different industry sectors.

(C) Measure, at a minimum and to the extent feasible with existing resources, the performance of the following workforce programs: community college career technical education, the Employment Training Panel, Title I and Title II of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220), Title I and Title II of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-128), Trade Adjustment Assistance, and state apprenticeship programs.

(D) Measure participant earnings in California, and to the extent feasible, in other states. The Employment Development Department shall assist the board by calculating aggregated participant earnings using unemployment insurance wage records, without violating any applicable confidentiality requirements.

(2) The State Department of Education is hereby authorized to collect the social security numbers of adults participating in adult education programs so that accurate participation in those programs can be represented in the workforce metrics dashboard. However, an individual shall not be denied program participation if the individual refuses to provide a social security number. The State Department of Education shall keep this information confidential, except, the State Department of Education is authorized to share this information, unless prohibited by federal law, with the Employment Development Department, the board, or the board’s designee, who shall keep the information confidential and use it only to track the labor market and other outcomes described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of program participants in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws and mandates, including all performance reporting requirements under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

(3) (A) Participating workforce programs, including, but not limited to, those specified in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1), shall provide participant data in a standardized format to the Employment Development Department, the board, or the board’s designee.

(B) The Employment Development Department, the board, or the board’s designee, shall aggregate data provided by participating workforce programs and shall report the data, organized by demographics, earnings, and industry of employment, to the board to assist the board in producing the annual workforce metrics dashboard.

(4) The board shall ensure that a designee has the technical and operational capability of meeting appropriate privacy and security requirements.

(j) The identification and dissemination of information on best practices, including best practices for all of the following:

(1) The effective operation of one-stop centers, relating to the use of business outreach, partnerships, and service delivery strategies, including strategies for serving individuals with barriers to employment.

(2) The development of effective local boards, which may include information on factors that contribute to enabling local boards to exceed negotiated local levels of performance, sustain fiscal integrity, and achieve other measures of effectiveness.

(3) Effective training programs that respond to real-time labor market analysis, that effectively use direct assessment and prior learning assessment to measure an individual’s prior knowledge, skills, competencies, and experiences, and that evaluate such skills and competencies for adaptability, to support efficient placement into employment or career pathways.

(k) The development and review of statewide policies affecting the coordinated provision of services through the state’s one-stop delivery system described in Section 3151(e) of Title 29 of the United States Code, including the development of all of the following:

(1) Objective criteria and procedures for use by local boards in assessing the effectiveness and continuous improvement of one-stop centers described in Section 3151(e) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(2) Guidance for the allocation of one-stop center infrastructure funds under Section 3151(h) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(3) Policies relating to the appropriate roles and contributions of entities carrying out one-stop partner programs within the one-stop delivery system, including approaches to facilitating equitable and efficient cost allocation in such a system.

(l) The development of strategies for technological improvements to facilitate access to, and improve the quality of, services and activities provided through the one-stop delivery system, including such improvements to all of the following:

(1) Enhance digital literacy skills, as defined in Section 9101 of Title 20 of the United States Code, referred to in this division as “digital literacy skills.”

(2) Accelerate the acquisition of skills and recognized postsecondary credentials by participants.

(3) Strengthen the professional development of providers and workforce professionals.

(4) Ensure the technology is accessible to individuals with disabilities and individuals residing in remote areas.

(m) The development of strategies for aligning technology and data systems across one-stop partner programs to enhance service delivery and improve efficiencies in reporting on performance accountability measures, including the design and implementation of common intake, data collection, case management information, and performance accountability measurement and reporting processes and the incorporation of local input into such design and implementation, to improve coordination of services across one-stop partner programs.

(n) The development of allocation formulas for the distribution of funds for employment and training activities for adults, and youth workforce investment activities, to local areas as permitted under Sections 3163(b)(3) and 3173(b)(3) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(o) The preparation of the annual reports described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of Section 3141(d) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(p) The development of the statewide workforce and labor market information system described in Section 49l–2(e) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(q) By July 1, 2020, the development, in conjunction with the Employment Development Department and with input from local workforce development boards, of a policy regarding mutual aid agreements between and among local workforce development boards to enable them to effectively respond to disasters and that is consistent with applicable state and federal law.

(r) The development of other policies as may promote statewide objectives for, and enhance the performance of, the workforce development system in the state.

(s) Helping individuals with barriers to employment, including low-skill, low-wage workers, the long-term unemployed, and members of single-parent households, achieve economic security and upward mobility by implementing policies that encourage the attainment of marketable skills relevant to current labor market trends.

(t) Evaluating program outcomes, including program participant outcomes for all grant programs administered by the California Workforce Development Board, regardless of funding source.